Detachable liner for headsets



' P 7, 1962 v. F. GONGOLL 3,030,458

. DETACHABLE LINER FOR HEADSETS Filed Oct. 1'7, 1958 INVENTOR. Vernon F. Gongoll attorney.

United States Patent 3,030,458 DETACHABLE LINER FOR HEADSETS Vernon F. Gongoll, Shillington, Pa., assignor to The Electric Storage Battery Company, Philadelphia, Pa. Filed Oct. 17, 1958, Ser. No. 767,808 1 Claim. (Cl. 179-182) This invention relates to a detachable cushion or liner for attachment to telephone receivers, headphones and the like for improving the comfort in wear, and, more particularly, relates to a fiuid-filled cushion which may have a partial filling either of air or liquid.

An outstanding disadvantage of existing telephone headphone sets is that they cause considerable annoyance and fatigue, particularly to telephone operators who wear these headphones for long periods of time. Attempts have been made in the past to provide comfort by attaching liners of sponge rubber and the like, but these have not proved satisfactory for the reason that sponge rubber induces perspiration and will eventually disintegrate, also it will firmly adhere to the receiver and become sticky and difiicult to remove or replace.

It is accordingly an object of the present invention to provide a fluid-filled liner or cushion which is detachably mounted on telephone receivers such as on headsets of the type worn by telephone operators, particularly long distance operators, or even for ear phones of the commonly used French type phone used by most telephone subscribers.

A more specific object of my invention is to provide a detachably mounted, fluid-filled annular cushion or liner which may be easily and quickly attached to existing telephone receivers or headphone sets and which may be readily detached and replaced when necessary and which will provide an extremely high degree of comfort so as to enable wearing of the telephone receiver or headset for very long periods of time without discomfort or fatigue.

Other objects and advantages of my invention will become more apparent from a study of the following description taken with the accompanying drawing wherein:

FIG. 1 is an exploded, perspective view showing various parts of the assembly, before they are sealed together, which form the fluid-filled liner according to my invention.

FIG. 2 shows a top view of the completed liner.

FIG. 3 is a side elevational view of the liner shown in FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged, fragmentary cross-sectional view taken along line IV-IV of FIG. 2.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a completed, fluid-filled liner or cushion attached to a telephone re ceiver in accordance with the present invention.

Referring more particularly to FIG. 1 of the drawing, numeral 1 denotes an annular sheet of plastic material, such as a vinyl plastic, or any other suitable plastic or rubber and numeral 2 denotes a top annular piece of the same material which is adapted to be superimposed on the bottom plastic sheet 1. The two sheets are superimposed and suitably shaped on a vacuum form by placement upon a fixture. When the ceiling portion of the fixture engages the base portion, there will be heat sealing of the outer perimeters as well as the inner perimeters 7, 11 of these two annular rings. At the same time, the outer portion beyond the outer perimeters (not shown) will be cut off as well as the inner portion which is inward of the inner perimeters 7, 11.

There will then result an annular, fluid-filled cushion or liner as shown in FIGS. 3, 4 and 5 inasmuch as the surrounding air 13 which has been naturally trapped in the cushion will remain there and provide a cushioning 3,030,458 Patented Apr. 17, 1962 means to enable comfort in wearing. It will be particularly noted that the top ring and bottom ring are curved in the manner shown in cross-section in FIG. 4 so as to more accurately fit receivers of existing long distance operator head-sets or the receivers of French type phones, as well as to more accurately fit around the ear of the wearer. A small amount of air, that is, a partial filling, is much more suitable than a complete filling of air. In addition, the rings 1 and 2 are thin, at least sufficiently thin so as to allow the ring to flex evenly when placed against the car.

As the top and bottom fixture are brought together, they also seal within the outer perimeter and lines 4, 5, a rubber band 3 so as to sandwich this band between the outer peripheral portions of the top and bottom plastic rings as well as to seal the outer edges of rings 1 and 2 and the inner edges 7, 11 thereof and in this manner completely sandwich and seal-in the rubber band 3.

In operation, when it is desired to attach the air-filled cushion to a telephone receiver, the band 3 is extended or stretched so as to enable placement of the outer perimetrical portion about the periphery of the receiver and thus form a resilient, tight fit. Of course when it is necessary to remove the liner, the operator merely pulls it off very easily.

In some instances, particularly where a greater amount of attenuation is required, that is, when it is desired to exclude outside noises so as to enable the operator to more clearly hear conversations, it is better to fill the cushion with liquid instead of air. This is accomplished by providing valves 11 and 12 on diametrically opposite portions of the part that is to be detached finally from the cushion. Thus liquid may be introduced in one valve and air expelled from the other until the cushion is at least partially filled with liquid. It is much more desirable to merely partially fill the liner or cushion than to completely fill it so as to enable the liner to flex and adapt itself to the contour of the face-engaging portion,

also to fit more comfortably about the ear of the wearer. Any suitable liquid may be used, although I prefer a mixture of glycerine and water, perhaps from 30 to 70 percent glycerine. Other liquids, particularly those of high viscosity are also suitable. Grease may also be used or any other non-gaseous fluid material that is very easily deformable.

It is, of course, understood that the liner described above may be used either for attachment on receivers of the type used by long distance operators, 14 (telephone or radio); by making them larger in size, they may be adapted for attachment to the very common French type telephone receiver as used in most homes today.

Thus it will be seen that I have provided a novel cushion or liner attachment which may be readily attached to existing telephone receivers for enabling such receivers to be worn for very long periods of time without causing discomfort; furthermore I have provided a partial filling of such lining with either air, liquid or a non-gaseous fluid material, for making the liner very flexible so as to more easily and comfortably conform to the ear surrounding portions of the wearer and thus provide extremely great comfort.

While I have illustrated and described a single specific embodiment of my invention, it will be understood that this is by way of illustration only, and that various changes and modifications may be made within the contemplation of my invention and within the scope of the following claim.

I claim:

In combination with a receiver of a telephone headset, a detachably mounted liner comprising an endless, tubular annular member of plastic material formed from top and bottom annular plastic strips sealed together at their outer and inner peripheries and along a circular pathadjacent their outer peripheriesand containing an air filling, said top strip surrounding the ear of the wearer and said bottom strip contacting the peripheral portion of the re- 5 ceiver, the outer peripheral portions of said top and bottom strips beyond said circular path formingintegral extensions, and a band ofelastic material sandwiched between said extensions and rigidly secured thereto for providing a yieldable attachment forv attaching the member 1 to the outer peripheral portion oft-he receiver.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Whitman -12 Apr. 24,

Aagard I Aug. 22,

Shaw et al. Aug. 6,

Morse. Oct. 14,

Hornickel Apr. 28,

FOREIGN PATENTS Germany Aug. 17, 

